Ski industry's challenge aims to draw beginners

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DENVER - The organizers of Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month are expanding an initiative designed to get more beginners to the mountains.

The "Bring a Friend Challenge" is offering skiers and snowboarders a chance to win gear or ski trips if they get friends who have never gone skiing or riding to enroll in a lesson with a professional instructor between Dec. 17 and March 17.

People can register online. Weekly prize drawings are scheduled to begin in January.

Industry groups including SnowSports Industries America and the National Ski Areas Association are supporting the initiative.

The industry is trying to keep interest in skiing up and their revenues healthy as video games, the Internet and other forms of entertainment compete for people's free time and money.